Shuryo
by Alfawolf15
Summary: Shuryō:Hunter-Ghosts. A/U. Danzo's revolt succeeds the night the Uchiha Massacre was supposed to happen, but not every person in Konoha stays. Six children make their way from the village, and ghosts from the past will rise up against him.
1. Chapter 1: Departure from Konoha

A/U: My second attempt and Fanfic...this one's a bit longer and more serious than my first attempt.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto. Otherwise, I wouldn't be writing this.

Quick Summary: (Ghosts) Danzo's revolt succeeds with the help of two major Clans, but not every person in Konoha stays.

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><p><span>Shuryō<span>: Chapter One: Departure from the Leaf

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><p>Red eyes glinted in the eye slits of the raven-haired teen's porcelain mask as he grimly slipped his katana from its sheath on his back. His penetrating stare swept the darkened streets of the Uchiha Compound, his home. The elite ANBU captain crouched motionlessly in the shadows of an dingy alleyway, a snake poised to strike. He took one deep, calming breath to steel himself for the mission. The mission. The last hope for peace in his beloved Konoha.<p>

However, the young ANBU had doubts. When a man calling himself Uchiha Madara had showed up a few weeks previously, offering to aid him in his task to exterminate the Uchiha, said man had also informed him about gaining the Mangekyo, which would greatly help him. However, it meant killing his best friend and cousin, Uchiha Shisui. Itachi had resolutely decided to carry out the task the night before the assassinations, since he would have to kill his cousin anyways, per his orders. However, Shisui had disappeared from the compound a few days previously.

For a moment, Itachi felt a stab of pain, of guilt and remorse for his clansmen, his family, but he ruthlessly squashed down his emotions. His orders-and the survival of Konoha-were what mattered now.

His red gaze flashed right, and the thirteen-year-old whirled and slashed with his katana, eyes blazing. The newcomer blocked deftly with a tanto. "Itachi!" hissed Uchiha Shisui in an urgent voice.

The weasel-masked ANBU did not reply, disengaging his blade to slice quickly at his cousin's side. His eyes flickered up to the face of his best friend, and he hesitated, giving Shisui time to thrust his shorter blade and knock Itachi's sword out of his hand. Itachi tore his eyes away from the bloodied mess that has his cousin's face and lunged for his katana, even as his other hand reached for a kunai. The older ninja stepped on the blade, grabbing his cousin's wrist as his own eyes spiraled into red-a four-pointed star pattern bloomed into existence. "Damnit, Itachi!" he growled. "Listen to me!" He wiped the blood from around his left eye using the sleeve of a long, black cloak he wore over his normal Uchiha attire. "You and I are in danger. I know your mission was to exterminate the Uchiha before they could revolt. I know the Uchiha planned a revolt for tomorrow night against the Third Hokage. Damnit, Itachi!" he snapped again, as Itachi attempted to wrench his wrist free. "Hear me out, okay? The Uchiha aren't revolting against the village...because Danzo promised them what they want!" Satisfied that Itachi wouldn't be attacking him at the moment, he released his friend, returning his tanto to its sheath on his back.

Itachi stood stoically, processing the information and what it would mean. Giving Shisui a calculating stare, he retrieved his katana and sheathed it. "Hokage-sama would never allow such a thing," he reasoned grimly, suspiciously scrutinizing the older Uchiha.

Shisui smiled mirthlessly. "He's not. Danzo sent his Root to have him assassinated minutes before I broke out. He has the backing of two of the most influential Clans to overthrow Sarutobi-sama tonight and assume the mantel of Godaime Hokage."

Itachi's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed as he reached instinctively towards his katana again. "You lie."

His old friend shook his head grimly. "Sandaime-sama is or will be dead before the hour is out. He was drugged at dinner by his own cook, verified by one of Danzo's agents, to make him weak and easier to kill. It'll sap his chakra and his strength. There's more. Danzo sold you out as a traitor to the Uchiha to get them to trust him. The old war-hawk named me as you accomplice and snagged me yesterday to 'get me out of the way.'"

"What?" Itachi's hand slipped away from the hilt of his blade. "Why would he sell me-us-out? He was the one who pushed the Hokage and the Council to have me execute the Clan."

"Our eyes." The older of the two reached up with an already bloodstained sleeve to dab away the blood dripping from the gouges around his eye. "He wants them for himself. He spent an hour telling me that my eyes were going towards the 'good of Konoha' and that I should go along with him without struggling. I escaped when they were transferring me from a holding cell to the operation room." He snorted. "I slipped a wire into the keyhole of the chakra cuffs on the operation table and broke out when they released my other arm. A bit of Sharingan, and wham, personal escape helpers." Despite his bluster, Shisui's eyes were haunted.

Itachi thought quickly. "Is there any way to take the Hokage or...someone else with us?" he asked.

Shisui shook his head firmly. "I can Sharingan the guards to leave the doors open and let anyone out and not notice, but we need to move fast and Hokage-sama...it's too late for him."

The young ANBU hesitated, then nodded. "We need to get out of Konoha. We should go before someone else finds out you are missing.

Shisui breathed out a sigh of relief, grinning and ruffling the younger raven's hair, to which said raven scowled and ducked away, smacking his hand. The shinobi renowned for being 'Shisui of the Shunshin' reached into a pack concealed by his cloak and handed Itachi a scroll and was consequently rewarded with a blank stare.

"What is this? A sealing scroll?" His eyes narrowed. "What is inside?"

Shisui chuckled sheepishly. "I, uh, slipped into your house before I came here and grabbed some supplies for you, and some scrolls and Clan techniques. From the Head Family library. Since we'll probably not return for...quite some time.

Itachi's eyes narrowed, and he began to speak, but his cousin held up a hand

"There's no time," he said quickly. "Meet me at the main gates as quickly as you can."

Two shadows quickly leaped away into the darkness.

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><p>Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage and widely revered as the Professor, student and successor of the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages, glanced up sharply as a large group of masked and cloaked ninja crashed into the rather small room, sending kunai and shuriken directly at him. The aged Hokage Kamawari'ed out of the way as his four hidden ANBU guards dropped down from the rafters to engage the intruders.<p>

"Code red, code red," one barked into his radio. "We have a breach in the Hokage's Office. Code red!"

A chorus of chirping birds exploded from the hand of another of the ANBU guards as his hand filled with lightning, effectively taking down an intruder as he rammed it into the enemy's chest. The silver-haired ANBU didn't hesitate, effectively dispatching two other ninjas with his father's fixed and restored White Light Chakra Sabre in one hand and kunai in another. The last of his opponents slashed with a regulation ANBU tanto; the dog-masked ANBU parried with his kunai and stabbed him in the heart with his 'Fang' blade. The ANBU's dark eyes flashed around the room quickly. His fellow ANBU, codenames Raccoon and Ferret-with the radio-were both down, surrounded by bodies and pools of red. A fire bloomed behind him, no doubt the result of an unchecked ninjutsu. Tiger was barely fending off two more, four other assailants dead on the ground near her. With a bound, Dog bounded behind one, slashing through his throat. Tiger finished off the other with a quick stab, then turned to face her fellow ANBU. A deep slash in her side steadily dripped blood; white bone glinted at the bottom of the wound.

"Go!" she gasped, turning to face the rest of the enemy. "Take the Hokage. I'll distract them."

Dog nodded-they both acknowledged that Tiger was unlikely to survive the night, and may die in futile. Quickly, he darted to the Hokage's side, who seemed sickly and struggled to hold off a half dozen of the attackers, and shunshin'ed them both clear across the villiage. Dog staggered, dropping to his knees and panting from lack of chakra. The Hokage swayed, then collapsed next to his ANBU. Aghast, the ANBU stared in horror at the the Sandaime's stomach area-he was too late. The Sarutobi had been stabbed in the gut by what looked like a poisoned blade. No medic was near enough to keep him alive, and the ANBU's own medic experience was not nearly enough to heal an injury like that. Nevertheless, he called up chakra to his hands and began knitting the flesh back together before straining to remove the poison, shocked to find there were two; the one that was on the blade, and a more subtle, long-lasting substance.

"Hokage-sama..." he trailed off.

The old man's eyes fluttered open weakly, waving a hand feebly in an attempt to forestall the last Hatake's desperate efforts to save him. "Ka...Kakashi..." he wheezed. "I'm going to die..." Though his voice was strained and desperate, there was a calm acceptance in his eyes. The one called God of Shinobi swiped a wrinkled hand through the blood pooling around his stomach and flashed through several hand signs. Several scrolls appeared, accompanied by a cloud of smoke. The Hokage gasped for air, exhausted from the chakra usage. "Forbidden secrets...techniques...guard them...guard them well...Danzo's plot...run, Hatake Kakashi...I name you...my true successor...go." The Hokage's eyes finally glazed, and his breath stilled.

So died a God among Shinobi.

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><p>"I'm so late! Okaa-san will be angry with me!" Sasuke cried out loud as he raced towards the Uchiha district. "She told me to be on time today, but I stayed out too late practicing throwing shuuriken! I'm so late!" he chanted.<p>

Suddenly, the young Uchiha saw a shadow drop down from a wall and whirled, prepared to attack. "Nii-san?" he asked, confused.

"Otouto..." The masked, cloaked Itachi stepped forwards. He hesitated. "Don't trust them," he blurted out. "Don't trust anyone, not what they say, not what they do. Trust no one, not 'Kaa-san or 'Tou-san. When you can, get away. From the Uchiha, from Konoha. The village is dangerous; I will leave you a scroll to find with secrets you must know. Look for a sign-our sign-at the second crossroads of the north road. Come find me, later, and I promise I'll tell you why. Can you do that for me, otouto?"

Sasuke's coal-black eyes widened, staring at the figure. "Okay, nii-san..." he breathed, suppressing the avalanche of questions. The figure stepped forwards and poked his younger brother in the forehead. Sasuke yelped, stumbling backwards. "Sorry I couldn't play with you today," he said fondly. "Next time, otouto." He stepped back, turning away so his otouto could not see the tear rolling down his face, or his red eyes morphing into a three-pointed pinwheel, and shunshin'ed away.

Sasuke stared in shock for a few moments, processing what his older brother had told him. Could he really not trust his 'kaa-san? Sasuke's eyes hardened. If nii-san had told him that, then he had to be right. Quickly the young Uchiha dashed the rest of the way home. His house was empty, but a note on the table from his mother told Sasuke that the entire fighting force of the Clan had gone out. Sasuke grinned victoriously. Perfect! He darted to the cupboard and grabbed some of the bars his nii-san always took on missions-because this was a mission!-and filled his canteen with water. Next, lugging the armful of rations, he ran upstairs and dumped the lot into his traveling satchel. He stuffed his real kunai and shuuriken he'd gotten for his sixth birthday into the bag and added clothes on top. Thus prepared, he swung the bag onto his back and ran down the stairs in two's and three's and out the door, skidding out the district once again. He slowed to a slow trot, cutting through the park on his way to the front gates. His spirits soared as he jogged through the park. He was going on a mission! He grinned, jumping over a bush...

...and landed right on top of a pile of orange, which squawked indignantly. "Hey!" the blonde cried as Sasuke tumbled him into a heap. "Watch where you're going!"

The Uchiha was about to deliver a stinging retort as he got off the other boy-his age-but stopped, wide eyed, as he noticed the state of the jumpsuit-wearing boy. "What happened to you?" he gasped.

The other boy snorted. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I love ramen and pranks. The villagers always beat me up and call me things, though. I was hiding from them, until you exposed me!"

The young raven stared at the other boy critically. "I'm Uchiha Sasuke...how can you hide in that thing?" he pointed out. "And why would they call you things?"

"The storekeepers won't sell me anything else!" the blue-eyed blond shot back indignantly. "They're like everyone else! They all hate me for no reason! I hate it. They all give me looks, like they want to kill me, and they've tried to, too!" His big eyes teared up, adding to his thoroughly roughed-up appearance. Cuts and open slashes showed through torn orange material.

"Oh. I'm sorry," the Uchiha managed, at a loss for words. "Um...you can have some of my old clothes. I packed some. He dropped his pack and dug out the first set he could find, almost identical to Sasuke's own blue, wide-collared Uchiha-crested shirt and white shorts. He tossed it at Naruto.

Naruto caught them, bemused, and stared at Sasuke, who began shifting uncomfortably. "Thanks," he muttered, then disappeared into a clump of bushes.

Sasuke fidgeted, but Naruto soon emerged wearing the outfit. "Thanks, 'ttebayo!" he said cheerfully. "You're the first person who's given me something like that!"

"Er...no problem," the other boy said awkwardly. "Hey, wanna come with me? My nii-san said for me to find him and he'll tell me some secrets!" he confided confidently.

"Cool! Let's go!" The pair set off, but had not gone far before a girl burst out in front of them, long pink hair tangled and eyes overflowing with tears. A kunai was in her hand.

"Stay back!" she cried, pointing the weapon at the pair, narrowing sea green eyes dangerously at the pair, then relaxed. "Oh. Sorry," she muttered. "You're not 'them.'"

"Not who?" Naruto asked curiously.

"A masked ninja attacked my parents. They told me to run, get out of this place. It's not safe in Konoha, that the 'new era' of Konoha would be baptized in blood or something," she whispered, and her overflowing eyes hardened. "I swore, by my father's blood on this kunai, that I will find that ninja. I will find him, and I will kill him for what he did!"

"We're leaving also," Sasuke said abruptly, casting an apprehensive glance at Naruto. "You can come with us. Just tell us your name."

"Sakura. Haruno Sakura," she whispered, glancing fearfully over her shoulder.

Sasuke nodded, and Naruto offered her a cheerful grin. The trio briskly made for the main gates, and out of Konoha.

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><p>A bloody, masked, and armored figure staggered through the shadowy streets of the villiage. ANBU codename Tiger stumbled onwards with a fiery determination. She'd barely had the chakra to shunshin out of the office after she'd been overrun by the mysterious agents. She'd seen the director of the entire operation enter just as she vanished: Danzo.<p>

It all made sense. Danzo had been disgruntled, to say the least, that he'd been 'cheated' out of the Hokage's seat, and waited until the Sandaime grew more complacent to make his move.

The ANBU was broken out of her musings when she reached the door she'd been searching for, and banged twice with her fist before collapsing on the doorstep helplessly. Moments later, the door opened, and a sleepy gaze turned into shock as the brown-haired man above her took in her broken form. "Yuugao!" he cried, picking her up and hurrying back inside. He kicked the door closed and lay the purple-haired ANBU on his couch. He forced a soldier pill down her throat, reviving her with a shudder.

"Hayate," rasped the ANBU. "I can't stay."

"Why? They're sending you out on a mission like this?" the sword master demanded, aghast, as he suppressed a cough.

"The Hokage is dead," she monotoned, stripping off her armor and accepting the roll of bandages thrust at her by her boyfriend.

Gekko Hayate staggered backwards. "What?" he demanded.

Yuugao ignored the other swordsman and stripped off her clothes, binding her wounds tightly in bandages before replacing clothing and armor. "Danzo had him killed," she said finally, softly. "He will be Hokage before the night is out, and Konoha will be at war." She began to get up, but Hayate held out his arm.

"Where are you going?" he hissed. "You're wounded! You won't get far, even if your wounds aren't poisoned."

"I have to," she stated resolutely. "I will be hunted down and silenced."

"I'll come with you, then," Hayate suggested desperately, but Yuugao pushed her hand against his chest to stop him.

"You will be of more use inside Konoha," she pointed out quietly, a tear slipping out of one deep brown eye. "Gather those against Danzo. Discreetly."

A few short minutes later, Yuugao slipped her white mask over her face to hide her tears as she hugged the pack of supplies Hayate had given her before leaping out the window. "I will come back. I will return. I promise."

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><p>"That was easy," noted Shisui as he and Itachi walked out of the gates after he successfully 'Sharingan'ed' the guards. Itachi raised his head for the first time since their meeting up, and his cousin gasped. "How...Itachi...how did you get the Mangekyo?"<p>

Itachi looked confused, and the older Uchiha ignored the tear trailing down his cheek. "I...don't know," the younger managed in a broken tone. Suddenly, the thirteen-year-old stiffened and half-turned. "Taichou," he acknowledged, inclining his head.

A shock of silver-grey hair spiking above the mask of a snarling dog ruffled slightly as its owner landed on the path behind them. "Itachi-san." Kakashi's tone was measured, but there was a hint of a growl.

Said Uchiha studied his ANBU taichou. The Hatake wore his mask and bloodstained armor still, with the addition of three large scrolls slung over his back.

"You are coming from the village," Shisui noted softly. "I take it the Hokage is dead, by Danzo's dogs...no offense..."

The older ANBU inclined his head, sharp eye taking in Shisui's own injured eye, hidden by a slanted hitai-ite much like his own."He is. How did you know?"

"Danzo captured me; I escaped. Itachi and I are fleeing Konoha," replied the dark-haired shinobi.

The Hatake nodded. "I trust you." Although his words were honest, he hesitated still before removing two of the three scrolls he carried. "These are valuable village secrets. They must be kept away from Danzo."

"Where will we go?" Itachi asked the older two as he slung his scroll onto his back. "Hi no Kuni is probably not safe. We could travel or assimilate into another village. I'm sure any village would be pleased to have the prodigy of the Uchiha Clan, Shunshin no Shisui, or Kakashi of the Sharingan in their forces..."

"We can't trust the other villages. Or rather, they won't trust us," noted his older cousin. "We'll travel. As mercenaries." Kakashi nodded in agreement, removing his Konoha hitai-ite from beneath his mask. Slowly, he removed a kunai, poised to slash through the symbol. The two Uchiha watched in silence, but Kakashi wavered. He replaced his blade and slipped the forehead protector into his pack and removed one with a blank metal plate instead, tying it over his scarred eye beneath the Dog mask.

Itachi glanced away, instead delving into his own pack for a scroll and brush. He sat down beside a tree and quickly wrote out what seemed to be a long letter. He stalked quickly away from the other two and disappeared. Kakashi and Shisui waited in awkward silence before the young prodigy reappeared, and the trio sprang away into the darkness, away from Konoha.

Away from home.

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><p>A scream broke out in the Hyuuga compound. 8-year old Hyuuga Neji's Byukagan eyes activated, and widened in panic at the sight of the heiress apparent being assaulted in her room. "Hinata-sama!" he cried, sprinting for his cousin's room. He turned a corner in the Main House's halls and skidded to a halt suddenly as a tall, white-robed figure stepped out in front of him to bar his path.<p>

"Leave, Neji," Hiashi ordered coldly.

"Hiashi-sama!" Neji bowed hurriedly. "I apologize for my transgression, but Hinata-sama is being attacked!"

"Your eyes were left unsealed for a reason," Hiashi stated stoically. "You will become heir in Hinata's stead. The Hyuuga has no use for a weak heiress. She is being taken care of, as per the agreement. The Hyuuga will become strong once again, influential and powerful in Konoha. I will be going out to see that the new era initiated as planned, as will the rest of the Hyuuga. When we return, you will be named heir. Do not disappoint me." The imposing leader turned and stalked stately out of the compound.

Neji watched him go, a thousand thoughts and emotions running through his head. Resentment. He had been born, destined to be a servant to a weak girl, to have his abilities restrained for the good of the Clan. His own father had been mindlessly sacrificed for the well-being of the Main branch. Because of his father, though, Neji was of the Branch family in all but seal-his father's last request was that he be left unsealed. Now, he was next in line to carry on the Hyuuga blood. Yet he still harbored that hatred of Hinata. But had she not argued softly with her father, begged him to honor Hizashi's last request? Why should he hate her, she who had fought for him, given him small gifts, even, called him brother, although he had pushed her away at every show of kindness? At that moment, Neji's mind cleared. He didn't. He shouldn't. She was his imouto, and he should protect him because she was family, not because he was obligated to. Having made up his mind, he dashed straight to Hinata's room, throwing open the door. The Hyuuga girl was fighting fiercely with half-trained Jyuuken strikes and a steely determination Neji had never before seen. The intruder, obviously ordered not to use ninjutsu, was attempting to capture the former heiress with a combination of wires, shuuriken, and kunai, but Hinata kept knocking the projectiles away from her. The assassin whipped around at the unexpectedly opening door, and the normally shy girl lunged for him, a spike of chakra practically leaping from her hand. The girl's aim was true, and the attacker dropped, dead after the strike stopped his heart.

"Hinata-sama!" Neji said quietly. "Hurry, pack what you must. We must leave quickly. Your father wanted you dead and me as the heir-we have to run!"

"Nii-san..." whispered the young Hyuuga, eyes wide and unseeing in shock at her first kill, but obeyed mechanically, eyes filling with tears, as she efficiently filled a pack of clothing and other essentials. "Meet me at the front gates of the compound," he hissed, and ran to pack his own bag.

Hinata pattered down to her sister's room. The three-year old was sleeping soundly, not even sucking her thumb. Hinata lifted the child from her bed, wrapping her in blankets. She hesitated, then gently laid her imouto in her mostly empty traveling bag and ran out to meet Neji.

Neji's byugaken eyes were still active, and instantly locked onto Hinata's bag in the shadows of the night. "Why did you bring Hanabi-sama, Hinata-sama?" he asked quietly.

"I cannot leave her," she replied. "She is my imouto, and I will look after her."

Neji studied the one he had been born subservient to, and she lifted her chin resolutely. Neji nodded once, then unslung his own bag and handed it to Hinata. "I will carry her," he stated. "I can handle heavier weights for longer periods of time."

Hinata clutched at the bag containing her sister, but finally relented and handed over the bag carefully, taking Neji's. The older Hyuuga delicately rearranged the blankets inside to be more cushioning before sliding it on. "My bag has scrolls on Hyuuga history and techniques from the Main House library," he stated unashamedly. "We mus go. We cannot return to Konoha."

Still rather in shock, Hinata nodded mechanically, and the pair took off through the streets of Konoha. As they ducked into the alleyway near the gates, they nearly trampled a bedraggled trio: a blond and raven both wearing Uchiha crested shirts and traveling packs, and pink-haired girl in a dark red dress with tear marks down her cheeks and a large, bloody kunai in her hands.

"What-?" began the dark, spiky-haired Uchiha, but Neji held up his hand for silence.

"You three getting out too?" the eldest Hyuuga inquired quietly.

"Yeah, we're leaving," confirmed the blond.

Neji nodded. "I'll see how attentive the guards are first. The gates seem to be open; unusual. Especially considering what Hiashi-sama said..." he trailed off, narrowing his pale eyes. The others watched him as he set his hands in a hand sign. "Bushin no jutsu!" he whispered fiercely, and a clone appeared beside him in a puff of smoke. The long-haired Academy student panted a bit, then concentrated again. "Henge!" the clone turned red-haired and stocky. Neji surveyed it critically as the others watched, wide-eyed in awe. The Hyuuga sent the clone off, and it walked sedately up to and through the open gates. A few paces outside, it ran to the trees and dispelled. They waited.

"Nothing happened," Sasuke noted. "Where are the guards?"

"Don't question it!" Naruto exclaimed. "Run!" He jumped up and darted outside the gates and into the forest. Sakura was next, following the blond and almost bowling him over. Neji and Hinata ran together, careful not to bump Hanabi around too much, and Sasuke was last, watching out behind him for signs of witnesses or pursuers. "Keep moving!" Naruto whispered, and the tiny group ran quickly away from Konoha and into the darkness.

* * *

><p>Deep within a hidden base, ROOT operative codename 'Shin' stalked through the shadows of the maze of winding tunnels. He didn't know how to explain it, but he'd 'woken up' during his last mission. Broken through the wall of nothingness constructed by Danzo-sama's emotional training. And he'd learned that he cared for his little otouto, codename 'Sai'. He didn't want the cheerful black-haired boy to become an emotionless killing machine.<p>

And he didn't want Danzo to have any influence over him.

So Shin made a life-changing decision: he'd release Sai and tell him to run. To run far, away from Konoha and Danzo's 'Root'. And he'd work to make sure Danzo would be out of the Hokage's seat as fast as possible.

So the silver-haired boy made his way to where Sai resided currently with a cold, hard bed and nothing more than a few sets of dark clothing and standard tanto. He opened the door noiselessly, but the boy within was already crouched and waiting, blade unsheathed. "Shin-nii!" he called.

"Sai." Shin thrust a traveling pack at the boy. "You are to leave Konoha. Don't return. I have a scroll of explanation within."

The pale boy nodded solemnly and took the pack, returning his tanto to its sheath. "Hai, Shin-sempai," he stated in a monotone, then marched out of the room.

Shin stood like a statue for a few moments, staring at where his adoptive brother had lain. Already, the bunk would be growing cold...and the flame that had ignited Shin's heart would go out. He would become once again, a tool for the good of Konoha. The silver-haired shinobi closed the door and paced back to his room.

Meanwhile, Sai trotted out of one of the Ne headquarters' secret exits and sprinted through the streets of the village. He already knew what would be inside the bag his partner had given him: his mission scroll, drawing scrolls and supplies, clothing, rations, and water. He'd go north, per usual, and as soon as he was five or so kilometers from Konoha, he'd open the scroll and read it.

Sai was surprised to see the main gates opened, but didn't question it and dashed out into the woods.

It would be five years before he set foot in the Village Hidden in Leaves again.

Unaware how badly awry his plan had gone, Shimura Danzo allowed himself a victorious smile as he surveyed the office he had coveted for so long. All these long years of waiting had paid off, and the seat of the Hokage was his at last. He turned to face the village through the windows, relishing the sight of the nighttime Konoha, slumbering and still. Behind him a masked and robed shinobi landed in a crouch and knelt. "Your orders, Hokage-sama?" the ROOT nin asked.

Danzo smiled. "I am not yet Hokage, Fuu. Spread the word. Kumo has attacked and assassinated the Sandaime Hokage. As soon as I am Hokage, Konoha...is going to war."

It was the end of the Konoha everyone knew.

It was the beginning of a nightmare.

It was the beginning of Shuryō.

* * *

><p>OMAKE: Sakura's Vow<p>

A shadow within shadows stole towards its target. Light glinted of the abnormally large kunai in his hand. A whizz. The kunai left his hand, hurtling towards the unsuspecting chuunin guard in front of the Hokage's Tower. Just as it was about to impact, a figure stepped in front of the projectile. A sickening squelch and crunch, and the man crumpled. A high-pitched scream filled the air as a tiny, pink-haired figure lurched down beside the body, wailing. The ROOT operative left the shadows, hurling another kunai and taking down the guard in one shot.

As he turned to go, he was caught off guard as a tiny fist knocked his mask off, and he grabbed the arm of the pink-haired girl glaring at him, tears streaking down her face. "You jerk!" she shrieked. "You killed him! You killed my father!"

The operative did not respond, releasing the girl to retrieve his mask and walk off. She was not part of the mission. She was not a threat. Therefore, he could ignore her and continue the mission; the mission was all that mattered.

"Hey."

The operative turned back at the voice. The girl stared steadily at him through the tears in her eyes. "I swear," she said, sliding the kunai out of her father's heart and holding it in front of her like a sword, "that by my father's blood on this kunai, I will find you one day. I will find you, and I will kill you for what you have done. So run!" she snapped, stepping forwards. "Cling to your cowardly life. Live looking behind your shoulder on every mission! Because one day..." she advanced another step. "I swear, you will get what's coming to you!"

The operative thought he could not feel fear as he slowly backed away from the kunai-welding girl, continuing his mission.

But he was afraid of this girl.

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><p>AU: Whoo...pretty long. For me, anyways. Over 5k words in two days! ;D Reviews, please! Then I'll decide whether or not to continue this story...

Things to keep in mind: Itachi planned for Sasuke to find him in 5+ years. He obviously didn't take into mind the impulsiveness of seven-year-olds. Also, I guesstimated Shisui's age to be around 16-19 if Itachi is 13 and Kakashi is 22-23. Shuryō means 'ghosts', that'll come into play later on.

Aaanyways. :P Alfa out~


	2. Chapter 2: Run

**A/U: Phew. Finally got this out, and before my birthday too :D**

Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto and probably never will.

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><p><span>Shuryō<span>: Part One, Chapter Two: Run

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><p>"Neji-niisan, s-stop calling me H-hinata-sama!" The pale-eyed girl stared down the older Hyuuga with an uncharacteristic defiance.<p>

"Hinata-sama..." the boy began.

"No. I won't h-hear it. I refuse. You are m-my onii-san, my b-brother, and I am d-definitely n-not your superior," she stated firmly.

Naruto watched, wide-eyed from the sidelines. "Hell yeah! You go, girl, dattebayo!" he cheered enthusiastically, causing the girl to blush fiercely, staining her cheeks a beet-red, although she did not waver. Neji's eye twitched noticeably.

"Quiet, baka!" hissed Sakura swiping out half-heartedly at the blond. "It's a family thing. With their Clan and all..."

Sasuke smirked, amusement alight in his dark eyes. "I think Hinata's winning," he he announced in a whisper, none too discreetly.

Neji frowned at the trio, then turned his severe glare on Hinata. The lavender-haired girl didn't budge, and the prodigy sighed in defeat. "Fine, _imouto_. But you cannot stop me from protecting you."

Hinata glared back, but without any real anger.

"Now that that's over, can we move on?" Naruto interrupted. "We need to keep moving and find that scroll Sasuke's nii-san left him. Or said he left him last night."

The others murmured their agreement, and the five (plus Hanabi, still quiet in her open bag) stood up.

"Hey, which way do we go?" wondered Sakura. They'd reached the first crossroads the previous night; now that morning had arrived, they could either travel along the same road, going straight, or branch off along the side.

"Straight," their Uchiha companion declared confidently. "I remember this; Aniki took me out here once. He showed me a place, like a little hole, that he said was 'ours' and we could use it sometime, but he didn't tell me when or anything."

"Alright!" cheered Naruto, taking off down the path.

"Hey! Wait for the rest of us!" Sasuke yelled, jogging after the blond.

Tall, dark trees towered above the group of children as they jogged through the woods, casting long shadows over them and concealing them. After his initial sprint, the little squad organized itself into a formation learned in the Academy-Sasuke took point, Hinata watched their backs, and Naruto and Sakura flanked Neji, who had Hanabi in her bag cradled protectively in his arms.

Eventually, the little group reached the next fork, and Sasuke cautiously stepped into the woods in the middle of the two beaten paths. The other children followed slowly, keeping their eyes alert and aware.

"Um...one, two...three...then take away the first stone, slide the second, hey!" Sasuke pulled out a long, wooden box triumphantly. "I found it!"

Neji eyed the box. "It seems as though it carries a scroll within," he noted.

"Oooh, open it! Open it!" cheered Naruto.

Sakura rolled her eyes at Hinata, who only giggled at their antics.

The Uchiha carefully opened the box, and discovered that yes, there was a scroll inside. He studiously avoided looking at the Hyuuga's smug smirk and carefully peeled said scroll open. It had obviously been written in a hurry. "Dear—Otouto," the boy read. "I don't know when you'll read this..it may be...five...or ten years even...when you find this...But you must...know...that Konoha is...not what it was before...before Da-Dan-Danzo? took over. Konoha used to be a place where peace was...ram...rampant and ninja were good and hon..hon..."

"Honorable," Neji supplied.

Sasuke frowned. "Yes, um...honoraple...but no doubt Dan-Danzo is changing the village into a war machine. Um...Otouto, what I am a-about to tell you is a...village secret. The truth about the Sandaime Hokage and our own 'noble' Clan."

"Truth?" echoed Naruto, a horrible sinking feeling in his gut.

"Quiet!" hissed Sakura, a fierce light in her eyes.

"The truth is, the Uchiha Clan was planning to revolt against Konoha!" Sasuke gasped, afraid to go on. "But Danzo and the Uchiha and Hyuuga planned to kill the Sandaime and install Danzo as Hokage. And so, my otouto, I must leave now. Bear in mind the truth and cast away the Konoha transformed by Danzo. May the Will of Fire burn in you."

"Sandime-jiji's dead?" whimpered Naruto, eyes welling up in tears. "He...was killed?"

"Otou-sama...he planned this?" Hinata's face scrunched up, and she sobbed quietly into her sleeves.

Sasuke sat, hollow. "'Kaa-san...'Tou-san...how could you?"

Sakura's fists clenched around her kunai. "They...they got the Hokage too...?"

"We can't go back. Not ever," Neji said firmly. "They'd kill us. For being out of the village and for knowing secrets like this. From now on, we won't trust them. Konoha. We can only trust ourselves."

"He's right," Sasuke concluded.

The five stared at each other with a mixture of horror and fascination. Home was now an enemy. Those they loved could turn against them, if they were still alive.

Just then, a small, black-clothed figure stumbled into the bushes behind them. They all whirled, Sasuke setting his hands in the hand seals for a Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu, Naruto crouching in a basic Academy stance, Hinata and Neji in Jyuuken stances, standing protectively over their imouto, and lastly Sakura, a murderous glare in her eyes as she took in the blank mask.

"Take. Off. The. Mask," she growled at the newcomer.

Sai smiled cheerfully as he removed the mask. "Hello. Is meeting here normal?" he asked. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything important.

The five stared blankly at him, so he shrugged and took off his pack, ignoring them. The other children watched warily as he unfurled a scroll and began to read. His eyes widened, and he seemed in shock.

Sakura was unable to contain her curiosity. "What? What does it say?" she demanded snatching the scroll from the rather unresponsive boy. "Dear...Sai?" She blinked, glancing over at the pale boy "I know you must think you have been sent on a mission, but that is far from the truth. You and I have been taught that Danzo-sama-" Sakura's fists tightened on the scroll, and her eyes narrowed "-has wanted nothing but the good of Konoha, but that is a lie. Danzo-sama is power-hungry, war-hungry. I wanted you away from him. Live a good life, otouto, as yourself and not someone else's tool. You cannot return, or you will be branded a traitor and executed. I apologize for tricking you in such a way, but I only want the best for you. Shin."

"Hey! Hey! Sai, right? You can come with us! We're running away too!" Naruto piped up.

"Hold on." Neji turn his blank stare on Sai. "Who is Danzo? How are you connected with him?"

"Danzo-sama is my superior," the pale boy answered automatically. "I am his tool to use as he sees fit." Suddenly he blinked and corrected himself. "Was. Was his tool. Now I am nobody's."

"No, you're our friend," Naruto corrected impatiently.

"Friend? What is this 'friend' you speak of?"

The five other children stared blankly before shrugging it off.

"A...ano...we need to k-keep moving or t-this D-da-danzo will find us," Hinata spoke up timidly.

"Yeah! Hinata's right!" Naruto agreed, standing up.

Sasuke automatically replaced the empty scroll box in the hollow he'd found it in and tucked the scroll into his pack and getting up as well. Neji, after checking to make sure Hanabi had water and enough air, carefully slung the toddler in the bag onto his back. The six children walked off the path and headed towards the rising sun.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto introduced as the little group trouped through the woods. "I like ramen. I don't like people who hurt other people for no reason, and...and...I hate Danzo!" the blonde scowled murderously. "He had Hokage-jiji killed! My dream is to protect all my precious people, so nothing like that will ever happen again!"

Sai stared blankly, but made no other outward response.. "Ah...okay."

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke," the dark-haired boy offered next. "I like training, tomatoes, and my aniki. I don't like annoying people or fangirls...or sweets. Or Danzo." He wrinkled his nose. "My dream is to surpass my nii-san and master the Sharingan. I'm training to be the most dangerous shinobi in the world; I learned a jutsu from Itachi-nii-san, look! Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" he called, rapidly flashing through the hand seals and calling up his chakra. He inhaled, then blew out a large ball of fire, nearly catching the nearby trees on fire. "...oops."

The other children stared at him in awe and more than a little caution.

"Ah," Sai managed. "I have a nickname for you."

Sasuke blinked. "A what?"

"A nickname." Sai looked pleased. "A term of endearment. It is often used between comrades. I read it in a book on making friends. I will call you Kaen no Sasuke-Sasuke of the flames."

Sasuke ducked his head a little, but didn't seem unhappy. "Pretty sure that's not a nickname..." he muttered under his breath. "...but it's cool."

"Hey, hey!" Naruto interrupted. "What about me?" he demanded. "Don't I get a name, too?"

Sai cocked his head. "I don't know yet. You don't seem special."

Naruto seethed a little, but didn't push it.

"Dobe, snorted Sasuke.

"What was that, teme?" Naruto lunged for the Uchiha, but Sakura held him back with a long-suffering glance at Hinata.

"Drop it, Naruto," she sighed. "I'm Haruno Sakura. I like...memorizing things...anko dumplings...I dislike spicy things...and loud...things...my dream...no, my ambition is to kill the man that murdered my father and avenge my family!" She punctuated this with a punch to a nearby tree, unconsciously channeling chakra into the punch. The tree creaked, then slowly toppled over, causing the children to scatter out of its way before regrouping on the far side of the trunk.

Sai stared at the girl with wide eyes. "Sakura...Nadare no Sakura; Sakura of the Avalanche."

"Whaat? They both get names?" Naruto pouted.

"Quiet, baka," Sakura smirked a little. _That was pretty cool though...how did I do it?_

"A-ano...my name is H-hyuuga Hinata. Umm...I l-like cinnamon rolls, Neji-nii-san...and my imouto Hanabi, and...um...pressing f-flowers...I do not like sh-shrimp or crab...m-my goal is to ...um...become strong and p-protect my precious people, like N-naruto-kun!" she finished with a squeak.

Everyone glanced at Sai, but he merely stared back blankly.

"Um..." Hinata started again. "I...I like t-training in the rain...it's...um...r-relaxing..."

Sai brightened. "Kou no Hinata-Hinata of the rain." He gave them a smile that seemed somewhat fake, but Hinata blushed anyways, ducking her head modestly.

"I am Hyuuga Neji. I like training and meditating. I dislike spicy things-" he shuddered a little "-and anyone who tries to hurt my imoutos. My goal...is to protect my imoutos from any harm and become a feared ninja."

"I will call you Mizore no Neji, Neji of the Sleet, because you are like Hinata, but not as warm and friendly," Sai decided cheerfully. Neji's eye twitched.

"My imouto, Hanabi, is in the bag I'm carrying," the Hyuuga genius went on. "She's...three."

Silence fell once more as the children pressed on. Several hours later, Naruto sat down, crossing his arms over his borrowed shirt, and refused to move onwards.

"We need a break," he announced. "We're all hungry, and I'm sure Hanabi-chan is too."

Instantly, he had the support of the two elder Hyuuga.

"A-ano sa...Naruto-kun is right," Hinata agreed softly.

Neji carefully took Hanabi out of her bag and cradled the hungry toddler.

"Neji-nii," the three-year-old said imperiously, having been quiet for at least a day. "'ungry."

"Imouto, can you grab my bag? I think I have some crackers in there, and dried meat."

"Hai, Neji-nii-san." Hinata opened said satchel, fishing around for the crackers.

Meanwhile, Sasuke attempted to light the pile of firewood Naruto gathered with his signature Grand Fireball. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu! ...hey, it worked!"

A rather soot-blackened Naruto stared blankly down at the now-blazing fire, then glowered at Sasuke. "...teme. What was that? You could have lit me on fire!"

Sai was industriously chewing a protein bar that was regulation ROOT rations, while Sakura gulped from his canteen. "Thanks, Sai," she sighed, wiping her mouth and handing the water back.

"So..." Naruto began, and the other children turned to him. "Um. Raise your hands if you know how to get food out in the middle of nowhere?"

There was a pause, then Sai and Neji raised their hands.

"You four are all in the lower Academy class," Neji explained with an air of superiority. "They start teaching basic survival in my level. Like...fishing...um...some plants...um...snares?"

"Root agents are taught to fend for themselves in a survival scenario," stated Sai, appearing somewhat freakish what with his lack of emotion.

"...so what do you know?" prodded Sasuke impatiently.

"We can eat parts of the enemy nin we kill and their animal familiars," he offered.

Sakura stared at him, then at the canteen she'd just drunken from. "...I suggest we go with Neji's idea."

So Neji, Hinata, Sakura, and Naruto ended up throwing and stabbing long sticks into a nearby stream at the fat, shiny fish that swam there while Sasuke was assigned to watching the 'baby' (why me?) and Sai was told to do guard duty.

"Hey, I got one!" cried Naruto. "...wait, it was already dead. And rotting...ew..." He hurriedly threw the stick into the bushes and retrieved a new one.

The two Hyuuga both had their doujutsu active, which was proving to be quite helpful. "A-ano, that's t-two for y-you, nii-san, and o-one for m-me," stuttered Hinata, eyes aglow with excitement as the two held a mini-competition.

Sakura, who given up that kind of fishing, emerged from the bushes with four sticks and a tangle of roots in between to use as a net. She leaped into the stream downstream from the others, dragging her net, and plowed her way upstream, snaring almost every fish in her path. Others flopped out of the water, and were quickly picked off by Naruto welding short, sharp wooden spears. "Shannaro!" the candy-haired girl cheered, as she hauled the flopping makeshift net onto the banks. Naruto whooped as the blond brandished his spears, each impaling a silvery fish.

In the end, the group managed to take in fifteen of the apparently migrating fish. Neji just barely beat Hinata, with four fish to her three.

Just because she was his imouto definitely did _not _mean he would throw the competition.

The two Hyuuga replaced Sasuke and Sai's roles as the others happily roasted the large pile of fish over the roaring flames.

"Best. Meal. Ever," declared Naruto, crunching down on his fish.

Sasuke smirked, but he was put out that he'd had to miss all the fun. "Dobe," he scoffed in a lofty tone, toasting his own fish and ignoring the other boy's indignant outburst.

Sakura happily chattered away to Sai, who listened politely, nibbling on a fish, as she chomped on her own food. "...and I thought we could all, like, hang out at the river later to get to know each other better, before we move on. What do you think?"

"...I don't know," replied Sai, puzzled. "What does 'hang out' mean?"

The pink-haired former Academy student stared at him in bewilderment before attempting to explain, only adding to the dark-eyed boy's confusion.

"You...talk and have fun. You interact um, favorably with your peers..." she began.

"What does it mean to have fun?" the Root recruit asked, tilting his head to one side.

"Doing something that makes you happy, 'ttebayo!" cheered Naruto, trying to help Sakura. The strawberry-haired girl still seemed at a loss as to how to deal with the boy.

"Makes me...happy..." repeated Sai blankly.

"Content," offered Sasuke. "At peace. That's what...that's what...'kaa-san...used to say..." he trailed off, looking somber.

"You would f-feel like there is n-nowhere else you'd rather be in the w-world," Hinata input quietly.

"When you feel you have reached an inner balance." Neji's voice ghosted over from the trees.

"Ah." The former Root member's face took on a thoughtful quality. "I...think I am happy," he concluded, smiling a true smile for the first time.

The atmosphere relaxed after that, with the seven Konoha runaways lounging by the fire with a midday meal in a content silence. When Naruto offered to replace Neji on guard duty, the white-eyed boy gladly relinquished the post, dropping down from his tree and instead delving through his traveling bag.

"What's that?" Sasuke eyed the scrolls the older boy removed.

"Hyuuga techniques," Neji answered loftily. "I'm going to learn these and improve on them. One of my ambitions is to be one of the most feared ninja of all time."

"Yeah? I'm going to too," the Uchiha shot back. "Better than my brother, and definitely better than you!" He dug through his own satchel and held up his pilfered scrolls triumphantly.

Of course, this led to all the other six-year-olds yammering about wanting to be feared and awesome ninjas. Except Sai.

"I wish to perfect my artistic ability in battle," he stated calmly, a blank scroll and ink already in his hands.

He was met by five blank stares. It didn't matter. He'd come to expect it...

Hinata rose slowly, moving off a little ways from the group and began running through her katas slowly. The other children broke off, studying avidly or practicing their rather limited taijutsu.

"Dobe, what's that?" Sasuke broke in, glancing up from his scrolls at Naruto's extremely sloppy and blatantly flawed stances.

Naruto flushed and relaxed into a regular standing position. "The academy stance," he shot back.

Sakura and Sasuke exchanged glances. "...no, it's not," Sakura corrected hesitantly. "Who taught you that...thing?"

The blond's face twisted briefly into a mask of hurt and confusion before settling on puzzled. "I...Mizuki-sensei showed it to me," he answered. "He said it was more advanced since I..." he trailed off as the two others stared at him, then at each other. "It isn't, huh?" he said, more like a statement than a question. He seemed to droop miserably, eyes downcast as he scuffed the ground with his sandals in embarrassment.

"It's like this," Sakura volunteered, stepping forwards into the correct Academy stance.

Naruto gave a bright, foxy grin, eagerly copying the pink-haired girl as Sasuke watched critically. "Thanks, Sakura-chan! Sasuke-teme! I'll be a real ninja in no time, dattebayo!"

Though overeager, Naruto was a quick learner and easily picked up the basics taught by Sakura, who demonstrated ast Sasuke corrected Naruto's stance. The jinchuuriki quickly advanced to basic academy katas, practicing own as Saske and Sakura did some light taijutsu only sparring. Most of the matches were won by Sasuke, who had the advantage in speed, strength, and size as well as practice and experience, but Sakura's cunning and quick thinking got the better of the Uchiha every couple of matches.

On the other side of the makeshift camp, Sai found himself staring blankly at Hanabi as he drew creatures on his scroll, rather unnerved to find that the child was staring at him in the exact same way. It was a bit disturbing, but quite educating. Absently, he dipped his brush in ink and began a strange, mutated creature with the fins of a fish as well as hawks' wings, the torso and fur of a feline, and long, bat-like fangs. Needless to say, Sai wasn't very sure how well it would work or even fight.

A litle ways away, Neji instucted Hinata in the Jyuuken as they sparred, giving her advice and criticism. He was rather relieved to see the same defiant fire in her eyes as she'd had earlier; she wasn't a complete pushover and would likely became a successful kunoichi, if she wanted to be. Her jyuuken form was far from the best, but Neji wondered aloud if Hinata could maybe modify it to make it more suited to her.

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><p>Suna, in the evening of the same day.<p>

A nine-year-old girl with sandy blonde hair tied up in a pair of spiky pigtails and deep, fiery green eyes idly kicked her feet as she watched the moon from her window ledge. The night was quiet and cool, darkness lit only be the light of the quarter moon and a faint sprinkling of silver stars. "Father tried to assassinate Gaara-chan again," she murmured quietly to herself. "It's not right. He's just a kid! Poor Gaara...he's my otouto. I...I promised to protect them...Kankuro and Gaara both. But it seems like I can only choose one. I can take care of Kankuro-baka..." she smiled fondly, "but Gaara keeps getting attacked. Last time I saw him, he looked like...a demon." She shivered. "I won't let my otouto be turned into a demon, a monster, a bakemono. I won't!"

Mind made up, the ninja-in-training stood and made her way into her rather lavish room-being the daughter of the Yondaime Kazekage meant she was literally treated as a princess. A warrior princess with a fan for a weapon and kunai lined up neatly on the desk, but a princess nonetheless.

No sooner had the girl landed on the floor of her room than the door banged open in a less-than-subtle manner, and a slightly chubby boy a year younger sauntered in. "Hey, Temari-nee," he chirped, grinning impishly. What appeared to be crayon was smeared all over his face and in his dark brown hair. Then Temari took a closer look.

"...Kankuro..." she began dangerously. "...is that my MAKEUP all over your face?"

The eight-year-old quailed, one hand rising subconsciously to his face. "It looks cool!" he objected stubbornly, pouting. "I'm gonna be a puppeteer, and puppeteers get war paint!"

His sister frowned, about to scold him, then stopped and sighed. "Fine. You can have it."

Kankuro began to crow in triumph.

"I'm leaving Suna."

The boy stopped, eyes growing wide with dismay. "Y-you're leaving? Is it because of me? You can have the makeup, I don't want it!"

"Shh, it's not you, Kan-kun," his sister soothed. "It's...you remember, I told you I would protect my otouto?"

The puppeteer-in-training nodded, furiously brushing at his eyes with his sleeves.

"It's...well...Otou-sama has been trying to hurt Gaara-chan, and I've been breaking my promise by letting him do it. I...I'm taking Gaara and running away," she finished defiantly.

"You...you're really leaving me, Temari nee-san?" Kankuro's lower lip began to wobble. "For Gaara? A demon?"

"Don't think like that!" Temari snapped angrily. "He's no demon. Just a lost, lonely, hurt little boy. Otou-sama won't hurt you, Kan-kun, you know that. But he keeps trying to kill Gaara. I just want him safe. I want both my otoutos safe. Do you understand?"

Kankura nodded hesitantly, rubbing away tears. "You'll come back?" he said hopefully, voice breaking a little.

Temari nodded. "I promise. I'll see you again, otouto. Now go to bed, I'm going to get Gaara now and leave." The nine-year-old moved around her room, packing an Academy-regulation bag of supplies she thought she'd need, including extra clothes, weapons, and water sealed in storage scrolls as well as the set of progressively higher-ranked technique instruction scrolls Baki-sensei had told her she would learn eventually.

Kankuro watched her for a moment, at war with himself. Finally, he ran over and tacklehugged his sister around the waist. "Goodbye, nee-san. I love you," he murmured, and dashed from the room.

Temari watched him leave with a sad, nostalgic sheen in her eyes. "Ja ne, otouto. I love you too."

She blinked back tears and surveyed her room. Her gaze lit on a large gourd in the corner, given to her by her father for her sixth birthday in the hope that she could store wind in it. She slung in on her back along with her battle-fan, a large, heavy weapon possibly bigger and heavier than she was. The girl staggered under the weight, then removed the two and laid out a sealing scroll. She closed her eyes, gathering her chakra. "Fuin!" she growled out, concentrating. She felt her chakra draining fast, and fought the urge to abort the jutsu. Finally, in a brief and rather small flash of light, the two objects disappeared. Temari staggered backwards, collapsing on the ground with a grin of triumph despite her exhaustion. After a few minutes' recovery, the blond shoved the scroll into her backpack and pulled it on, then slipped out into the darkened hallway.

The girl felt her fear rising as she approached the bedroom of her otouto, Gaara. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but she'd neglected to factor in that she was terrified of the boy, who had killed every assassin their father had sent. Hesitantly, she approached the door and tapped lightly at it, then gingerly turned the doorknob into Gaara's bedroom.

He was awake. He always was, lest the demon within him consume his mind. Immediately, Temari felt the boy's sand shift up to wrap around her. "Temari," he stated coldly, sending shivers down the blond's back. "You are not like the normal assassins."

"G-gaara...I'm not an assassin," the girl retorted, a little hurt and saddened by his assumption.

"You are bait, then, to draw me out."

"No. Gaara, I..."

"They are using you to get to me," the red-haired boy responded coldly, not turning away from the window where he stared up at the same night sky Temari herself had not thirty minutes ago.

"Gaara. You're my otouto. I can't see you hurt like this. Come on, let's get out of Suna!" the sandy-haired girl burst out abruptly.

Gaara stilled ever further, if possible, and his sand stopped swirling. He turned, disbelieving, to stare at Temari with wide, black-rimmed eyes. "...what?"

"Let's leave, you and I. I want to take you away from here. I'm sick of them hurting my otouto! What's keeping you here, Gaara?"

The boy tilted his head to one side. "Nothing. What is keeping me from killing you?"

Temari swallowed. "I care about you, Gaara. I'm your nee-san and you're my otouto. You'll need to eat out there, you know, and I can survive in the wilderness." She hesitated, noting Gaara's contemplative silence.

"Meet me on the roof in fifteen minutes," the six-year-old ordered finally.

Temari smiled at last, and ran quickly from the room. Finally. She could take care of her otouto and be a real big sister. Just like she promised.

Fifteen minutes later, Temari was fidgeting on the roof of the Kage mansion. Their father was out late, working at the office, so no one was there to see her out after the nine-o'clock curfew. The wind kicked up a little sand, but more and more tiny particles joined it until the blond girl was forced to shield her eyes from the little tornado. When the sand died down, Temari glanced between her fingers to see Gaara regarding her impassively. "Gaara-chan..." She thought she saw her brother twitch. "You came."

The young redhead stared at her stoically. "We need to go." He wore a small pack on top of his loose, desert-style shirt and pants, slung over one shoulder on a belt.

"Okay..." Temari drew a scroll out from her backpack, flinging it open. "Fuinjutsu: Activate seal!" The kunoichi scowled, pressing her hands into the hand sign 'snake'. A large puff of smoke later, Temari's fan was revealed, lying in front of the girl. With a grin of accomplishment, she snatched her fan and rolled up the sealing scroll and putting it back into her backpack.

The sandy-haired girl stared over the edge of the building, somewhat ignoring Gaara's rather impatient stare, and snapped her fan open to all three purple circles. She glanced back awkwardly. "I, uh, thought we could...fly out of the desert," she explained.

Temari could have sworn she saw a tiny smirk before her brother regained his blank mask. "...you can." His sand lifted, swirling around him to form a wave beneath his feet. On his sand, Gaara directed it out towards the desert and, on his sand, flew off. Temari gaped, then scowled.

"Show-off brat," she muttered with a tiny smile, then leaped onto her fan and glided off after him.

In the air, Temari fought with the turbulence, struggling to keep it straight in the buffeting winds. Ahead of her, Gaara seemed to be having a little, but not as much trouble, although he was at such a high altitude as she was. "Damn, can't go any lower or I won't make it," she muttered through gritted teeth, struggling with her fan. Preoccupied with the fan, Temari didn't notice the wind picking up considerably until it was too late.

The full-force gale of the sandstorm blasted into Temari and her fan, and it bucked beneath her. The girl yelped, fighting to stay upright. Temari squinted into the swirling particles, unable to see past the length of her battle-fan. The blasting gusts propelled her furiously, much faster than she was comfortable gliding. The green-eyed ninja-in-training let out a muffled yelp, then a shriek as the fan first tipped dangerously, then flipped completely over. Without her weight to balance it, the fan swirled and tumbled through the air with Temari swinging precariously, refusing to let go.

The wind flung her around until she was able to flip herself back up onto the fan. For what seemed like hours, Temari battled the blasts of wind and sand, unable to see where she was going. Her muscles screamed as she yanked the tilting fan upright, and she gritted her teeth against the pain. She couldn't move her fingers; they were stiff and sore from gripping the iron fan until her knuckles went white...and stayed white. The chafing sand had scored her visible skin to various degrees of severity, from just raw and red to almost bleeding, to open scratches that burned as more particles came into contact.

The fan veered to one side, thrown by the wind, and Temari fought to turn it to where she thought was her intended destination. The fan had been turned so much, she wasn't even sure where she was or what direction she was going in. Each twist and turn, the girl stubbornly wrestled the fan back upright.

Finally, the wind and sand began to abate, though the jade-eyed girl couldn't see much besides tan particles whipping past. As the wind grew complacent, Temari loosened her grip slightly and relaxed her muscles. She was drifting lower.

Where's Gaara? She thought. She still couldn't see much, and she hadn't noticed Gaara since before the abrupt sandstorm.

Relaxed, Temari wasn't prepared for the sudden gust of wind that threw her forwards and down towards the ground, ripping her from her fan and sending girl and fan plummeting towards the ground.

* * *

><p>OMAKE: Operation Save the Tree<p>

"What's that noise? It's driving me crazy!" four-year-old Sasuke complained to Itachi. "It's like a THUNK. THUNK. THUNK. It's not normal!"

"Hn. I don't know, otouto, but it is not usually a sound in Konoha's forests," the young jounin replied somewhat absently, wrinkling his nose at the thick layer of snow the pair were trekking through.

"Hey, let's go see!" declared the younger, and let go of Itachi's hand to run towards the noise. He was caught around the waist by a strong arm.

"Don't rush into things, otouto," Itachi admonished, letting go of Sasuke. "Use stealth. Cunning. The shadows are your friends." His eyes darkened slightly.

Sasuke pouted. "Okay, okay, nii-san. I know. It will be my undoing." The pair had been walking along the north trail out of Konoha, but now, the younger of the two ravens crept through the trees towards the sound with the older following with silent steps.

Presently, Sasuke dove into the bushes with a slight rustle near a clearing. Itachi slipped up behind him, and together, the pair watched a slightly overweight man in civilian clothes repeatedly swing an axe at the base of a small 'evergreen' tree. It was a young tree, all green and not six feet tall, and the man was cutting. it. down. Itachi's eyes narrowed. Konoha's forests were protected, considering many of them were there because of the Shodaime Hokage Senju Hashirama's work, or were descendants of the trees he'd grown when he made the original forests.

Having finished, the man hauled the tree onto a small sled nearby and strapped it down, losing quite a pile of needles in the process. The man began dragging the sled and tree through the snow and off through the forest.

Sasuke met Itachi's eyes fiercely as soon as the man was out of earshot. "We have to save that tree!" he whispered. Itachi nodded in agreement, and the two set off to commence Operation Save the Tree.

Forty-eight year old Okinamori Daiki trudged through the snow-covered forest and down the hill towards his house, dragging his family's newly acquired Christmas tree. His wife, Matsu, had been nagging him for years to get a 'real tree this year' for as long as he could remember, and finally, he did, but with some apprehension. His neighbors had warned him not to take trees from this forest for as long as he had remembered, but he'd brushed it off as superstition.

Suddenly, Daiki heard an ominous creaking from the branches directly above him. Panicked, he leaped and skidded jerking his tree out of the way as a massive load of snow dumped down exactly where he'd just been standing. He glanced into the tree and thought he saw a flash of blue and black, but wasn't quite sure. He shivered a little from cold and more than a small amount of nervousness before continuing on his way.

Daiki snapped his eyes up at the sound of a low rumble, and they widened at the sight of an extremely large and rotting log hurtled down right at him. He yelped, ducking under the sled. The log hit the edge and sprang into the air, right over his head. Abandoning all shreds of tiredness, the man bolted for home, which was less than five hundred meters away. The sled bounced and tumbled behind him, and seemed to be doing its best to hit every rock in its path. Finally, Daiki thundered into the clearing of his house, panting.

He straightened with a grin of triumph and untied the tree, which was still in fairly good shape. He trudged to the side of the house, where a wooden base in the shape of an X leaned against the wall, as well as a hammer and some nails.

"He's crucifying it!" gasped Sasuke in horrified dismay as the two Uchiha watched him hammer the wood to the base of the tree. "Quick, initiate Plan D!" he cried, and Itachi vanished from his side.

Daiki looked up from his work into a pair of blood red eyes and knew nothing more until his wife Matsu came out and screamed at him for sleeping outside.

Itachi panted as he sprinted with the tree up the hill. "Go, aniki!" he heard Sasuke cheer as he caught up. He reached the path, and his otouto followed as he headed into the woodland triangle at the second intersection of the north road. He set the tree down gently and yanked the nails and wood cross from where the roots should have been. A successive Doton and Suiton later, the tree was firmly in the ground with a chance at a happier life.

"Come here, otouto," Itachi murmured quietly, and poked his brother in the forehead when he did. Ignoring his shrill yelps, the jounin scooped out a deep crevice from the ground near the tree and slipped a thin iron case in. "Watch. This will be ours. We will use it in the future." He slid a flat stone over the opening, put another on top, and sealed it with a paper seal before scooping dirt over it all.

Sasuke stared, puzzled, but memorized the sequence dutifully.

Itachi smiled a little. "Operation Save a Tree: success."

Twenty minutes later, the citizens of Konohagakure gaped at the Uchiha prodigy walking through the village covered in pine needles.

Meanwhile, Okinamori Daiki stumped to the shed to retrieve the fake Christmas tree. He was never taking another tree from those forests. Ever. Again.

* * *

><p>AU: I was a little disappointed that there were only 25 Hits...Divergence got more than that, and I consider it an epic fail...what am I doing wrong? O.o

On a side note, part of the Omake at the end will be posted as a oneshot...

Reviews, please! D:


	3. Chapter 3: Friends on a Journey

**A/U: **Heeeyy guys, it's Alfa again...sorry about the wait. I hit a writer's block. D:

To my five reviewers: MidniteCurse4Eternity-thank you for your reviews! They were like birthday presents one day late. ^.^

shadowphantomness, NYSM Thank you so much! Your reviews made me smile:)

:D Heh, I'll definitely try to continue this story.

Shadowphantomness: Think about how the Hyuuga treated their heiress. Then they basically asked Neji to stand by while some ninja tries to kill her. Not good. xD Hinata and Neji don't want that happening to their imouto.

There's some things I need to ask all my readers at the bottom. Please respond!

Anyways, here's Chapter Three in Shuryo.

* * *

><p>CHAPTER 3: Friends on a Journey<p>

* * *

><p>"Naruto, why do you have the Uchiha crest on your shirt?" asked Sakura curiously after seeing said article of clothing. Sasuke had just pointed out his own proudly. "Are you an Uchiha too or something?"<p>

Sasuke choked, eyes wide as he whipped around to stare at the girl. Next to him, Neji snickered. His shyer cousin refrained from laughing outright, but hid a small smile by ducking her head. The addressed blond just had a confused expression on his face.

The pink-haired girl frowned crossly. "What?" she snapped. "Wearing another clan's emblem on your clothing usually means they've been adopted into that clan by whoever it was that gave them that shirt or crest."

"Nani? What?" Sasuke practically shrieked, echoed wholeheartedly by Naruto, who literally sprang backwards in shock. "Hell no!" Sasuke shook his head violently. "I didn't adopt him into the clan! Gimme back that shirt!"

The blond yelped and fell backwards as Sasuke dove at him, narrowly avoiding falling headlong into a tree. He ducked and dodged away as the black-haired boy tried to grab him. "Teme! Like I would willingly join that stuck-up family of yours! You know I don't have any other clothes!"

"Stuck u-why you!"

"That's not always true!" interrupted Sakura loudly in a rather annoyed tone over the two boys' brawling. Sasuke froze with one hand on Naruto's wide shirt collar. "All Konoha shinobi wear the Uzumaki spiral-the red swirl-on their flak chuunin vests. It was also the symbol of the Villiage Hidden in Whirlpools, and obviously they didn't adopt every single person there."

Naruto jerked his shirt away from Sasuke, completely missing everything except the fact that he was right. "Yeah, teme! Don't do stuff like that! Takin' peoples' clothes, you perv!"

The Uchiha huffed and turned away to hid his confusion, stalking through the woods. The rest of the group trailed behind him onwards and westwards.

As the self-appointed rearguard, Neji watched the other children from behind, musing on the young yet cohesive band. Already, the Uchiha and the blonde had formed a close bond, with much affectionate teasing and a budding but fiery rivalry. Naruto was the Yin to Sasuke's Yang, the bubbling energy to his counterpart's somewhat removed, cool personality, orange to his blue. Sakura, unpredictably, had managed to insert herself into the 'equation', providing a balancing force to the two boys' extremes.

...but were he and Hinata not much like them? Him colder, remote, and, well, stronger? She warm, friendly, and passive? They had their family bond to hold them together as well as Hanabi. Neji allowed a small smile to flash briefly across his usually impassive face. They were balanced...it seemed Fate favored them. But no sooner than it had appeared, his smile vanished, and icy eyes narrowed at the lone outsider, the unknown factor in their group. The one who called himself 'Sai'. He apparently had no emotion, shown up out of nowhere to join them, seemed to already be some kind of shinobi, and quite blatantly, did not fit in. To Neji's oversensitive eyes, he moved with a hunter's feline grace, trained to stalk and hunt...and kill. He seemed...fake. Was he working for someone? All three Hyuuga heirs and a son of the Head of Uchiha, second heir and in line for inheritance were all members of their little group. This Sai would make an excellent assassin or spy. But he couldn't fool Neji's Byakugan, and they told him he was under no genjutsu.

At that moment, the shock-white boy in question turned to see Neji's stare and tilted his head, crinkling his eyes and mouth into a rather artificial smile. The older boy returned it with his customary glare and turned his attention back to the woods behind them.

He'd keep an eye on the outsider.

"Hey! Ow!" yelped Naruto, tripping over something...furry. It let out a yowl and jumped away, pelt fluffing out until it resembled a furball twice its original size.

"Aww, it's a cat!" gushed Sakura, rushing past the blond to scoop up said feline. "Isn't it just adorable? Little..." she read the name off the ribbon attatched to the cat's ear "...Tora-chan?"

The gray cat purred in response, kneading Sakura's shoulder with its front paws to the girl's delight.

"Is it a nin-cat?" wondered Sasuke aloud, wandering up to poke the tabby. He yanked his hand back at a rather irritable swipe and patted the cat cautiously instead. "...maybe?"

"Hey, hey, that looks like the cat some of the genin back in Konoha were chasing!" declared Naruto, peering at Tora.

"That can't be the same cat. We are miles away from the villiage," Neji pointed out loftily.

"True," conceded the blond. "And this cat looks loads fatter...ow!"

Sasuke snickered as Naruto drew back, nursing a scratched hand courtesy of an offended feline. "Dobe."

"A-are you o-okay?" stuttered Hinata, staring at the blood dripping from between the boy's fingers with wide, lavender-white eyes.

Naruto pouted a bit, shaking off the red liquid. "Teme..." he muttered. "Oh, I'm fine, Hinata-chan! It's just a scratch, no big deal!" he stuck his tongue out at the cat.

"We can't keep it," interjected, having stayed quiet and removed as the others crowded around the cat. "It will slow us down. And use up any food resources we have."

"Kitty!" stated Hanabi sternly, patting the animal's rump while frowning at the pale boy.

"Cats are exremely intelligent," argued Sasuke. "She could be...useful..."

"It would not be practical," Neji pointed out, lifting Hanabi onto his hip and shrugging her to a comfortable position. "The creature could cost us more than it's worth, especially since we have next to nothing.

"W-what if we d-don't feed i-it but t-take it w-with us?" suggested Hinata softly from behind her cousin.

"What's the point of a dead cat," wondered Naruto. "...do you want to eat Tora-chan?"

"Baka!" Sakura swatted the blond, ignoring his yelp. "Hinata means the cat can probably hunt for herself, right?"

The pale-eyed girl poked her fingers together nervously and nodded sheepishly. "H-hai. T-tora-chan can catch h-her own p-prey, probably. She made i-it this far o-out in the w-woods herself, f-far away f-from any p-people."

"See? We can keep her!" Sasuke grinned, snatching Tora from Sakura.

"Okay, we'll keep the cat," decided Naruto. "Nobody feed her, though. Moving on!" He marched onwards through the forest.

Sasuke glanced around, receiving only shrugs-and a blank but faintly disapproving stare from Sai-followed Naruto with Tora in his arms. Sakura moved after him with the Hyuuga trio, and after a pause, Sai hurried after them.

Meanwhile...

Temari of Suna would have like to say that she saw her life flash before her eyes as she resigned herself to death.

However, that was not the case. She could only say she felt an irrepressible fear and helplessness before she hid something hard and saw only black.

Gaara was not quite sure why he'd sent a wave of sand to catch his sister after he'd turned to see her falling from the sandy, windswept skies. After all, he lived for, cared, and loved only himself.

Right?

Apparently not. Otherwise, Temari would currently be a very red and very flat splatter on the ground.

Gaara waved his hand imperiously, and the sand around him cleared from the air. A tunnel formed in the swirls, sweeping around until the black-rimmed eyes noticed trees. Trees? He'd only seen such high concentrations of trees in books, scrolls. Sand carrying an unconscious Temari and fan following in his wake, the prince of the sand headed for what he assumed to be a 'forest'.

Making his ways into the shelter of the trees, Gaara sat down on a mossy root protruding from the ground and contemplated the girl wrapped in his sand, lying on the grassy, leaf-dappled ground.

Kill her... Shukaku shrieked, flailing mental claws at its host. Feast on her blood! The jinchuuriki growled, clutching at the sudden agony in his head. "No!" he snapped out loud. "You can't have her!" His face contorted as his inner demon fought for release. Give me her blood...spill her blood...drink her blood for Mother!

Gaara half staggered, half fell off his perch, dropping and landing on the ground hard as he mentally wrestled to push the bijuu's influence away.

Shukaku clawed its way to the front of Gaara's mind and the sand wrapped around Temari like a burrito, constricting. The redheaded boy shoved back and regained control. Bulging veins receded from his face, and the forced sand away from his sister.

Brat-! How dare you try to subvert my will? Snarled the beast, clawing back more freedom. The sand shroud constricted around the blond girl once more. The young boy could feel his control slipping, and growled as veins and muscles shot into prominence. No...no! NO! He roared in his mind, and the one-tail staggered backwards, giving the container more reign.

Hours slipped by like minutes as Gaara beat back the demon. Night faded, and rays of sunlight streaked through the openings in the trees as the storm above disappated. The rings around the boy's eyes darkened ever so slightly. Gaara ignored fatigue-his body was used to it-and need for food and water. He wanted his mind back, and damnit, he was going to get it!

Temari lay unaware of the struggle over her, locked in darkness and inner struggle, not noticing when the particles tightened inwards, strangling her once when her otouto's control slipped, not when he gained ground and fought to give her breahing room.

Eventually, Gaara managed to shove the sand demon into the furthest corner of his mind, slamming mental bars over it and wrapping it liberally with chains. "And stay out," he muttered, listening to the beast slamming against the improvised cage while howling for blood.

"Hey, hey, there's someone there!" he heard, and he rolled himself out of sight in the shadows.

"Don't run ahead. It could be a trap." This boy's voice was deeper, more mature. Gaara peered between tree trunks to see the one who spoke last. His long, brown-black hair was gathered into a ponytail bound at the tip. He was pale, wearing a torn, white-trimmed black formal kimono. His eyes caught the light, and Gaara was vaguely interested to see the orbs were pearly white.

"Meh," answered the first, a cheerful blond dressed in a badly fitting blue shirt with a wide collar and white shorts.

"That girl could be an enemy," another male voice interjected. The speaker had black hair, spiky in the back, and wore the exact same outfit as the blond, though his fit better. Gaara quickly deduced that the blonde-for whatever reason-was borrowing clothes. The boy was holding something furry in his arms...was that a cat?

"S-she's u-unconscious," stuttered the purple-haired girl behind them. She was holding a younger girl, a toddler, with long black hair in her arms. Both wore the same formal kimono as the oldest boy, though theirs were white with black trimming. They, too, had pupil-less white eyes.

The last two stayed quiet in the back. A pink-haired girl in a red dress chewed on her lip as she watched the others, and a pale, black-haired boy stood, a little ways from the group, still as a statue.

The first blond darted up to his sister, and Gaara tensed and readied his sand to strike if necessary. However, the redhead noticed something strange. The impulsive blond boy seemed so...happy. Positive. And he drew Gaara to him like a moth to a light. The demon within him quailed at his presence, shrinking back and leaving Gaara practically all of his mind to himself. This boy...he seemed...nice...and wasn't hurting his nee-san, it seemed...and drove back the demon. All good things. So this boy...was good? Is good? Gaara's fingers twitched as the boy's companions approached as well, and the sand rose slightly with his will. To kill these strangers...or to meet them? Shukaku stirred briefly, muttering of death and blood, and the six-year-old frowned darkly. That settled it. Sand slithered as the jinchuuriki of the desert made his choice and stepped forwards.

Wave Country

"Taichou," an armored figure said in a low voice, concealed in the draping shadows of the forest.

"Itachi-san. It's late. You should get some rest," came the quiet reply from the silver-haired nin. "And I'm not your captain anymore. Haven't I told you not to call me that anymore?" The Hatake's figure didn't turn around to face the younger former ANBU, a wry half-smile on his masked face.

"I will need to return to Konoha."

The oldest whirled, staring at the Uchiha with wide eyes. "You want to go back? You know that's impossible! Danzo will have all his forces watching for us, hunting us, including the Uchiha and Hyuuga. We're S-class criminals! All the elemental nations will be hunting us." He stopped, eying the pair skeptically. In a controlled tone, he asked, "...why do you want to go back to Konoha?"

"I have yet to finish my last mission," Itachi answered after an uncomfortable silence. "It will be for the better of Konoha and us."

"You are volunteering to kill your own family?" Kakashi asked incredulously. "You know what this means. Innocent children and civilians will have to be slaughtered along with the shinobi. Can you do that? Kill the kids you babysat every day? The nice girl who gave Sasuke free tomatoes? Hell, can you kill Sasuke? Can you look your own parents in the eye as you run them through with that katana of yours, the one they gave you when you turned seven?"

Itachi shifted uncomfortably. "I am willing to do what is necessary," he stated flatly.

Kakashi shook his head. "Even if we do something, it can wait until the Uchiha aren't on guard. They're expecting something to happen. Wait until the war Danzo probably is waging runs its course and hit them while they are exhausted." He turned back around, resuming his watch. "Get some sleep. I have some business to take care of tomorrow."

Itachi leapt lightly back into the tree and his cousin had been resting in. A soft thump announced his cousin stirring. "He's right, you know, 'tachi," he murmured to Itachi.

The teenager sighed softly. "I know. I suppose I was a little hasty for this. I wanted to let Taichou know of my intentions."

"You're letting the stress talk for you," Shisui noted, sharingan whirring briefly before disappearing. "You are normally not so open and impulsive. You should be fine after a night of rest and after you let it all sink in. Hell, I'm not sure I fully comprehend what just happened. Night, 'Tachi."

"Good night, Shisui," came the tired reply, and the dark night was quiet once more.

…

"Taichou," greeted Itachi as he slipped down his tree.

Kakashi was leaning against a tree, dark bandanna over his distinctive hair, and his eyes darted over a small book in one hand. He raised the other in a lazy salute without glancing up. "Yo," he drawled.

"That isn't...porn...is it?" asked Itachi with a small eye twitch.

"Of course not!" Kakashi gave a cheerful eye-smile. "I took the liberty of henge'ing a clone and sending it down to get a copy of Kiri's latest bingo book.

Itachi sweatdropped. "Can I see it?" Kakashi tossed the little book over, and the teen flipped through the pages. "Former Konoha ANBU missing-nin. Hatake Kakashi, S-rank criminal. Age 21. Known as Sharingan no Kakashi and Kopi-ninja no Kakashi. Has successfully copying and utilized over a thousand jutsu. Specializes in assassination." He raised his eyebrows at the other man, who shrugged nonchalantly. "Wanted for desertion-really? That's it? Below ANBU rank flee-on-sight order." The thirteen-year-old turned several more pages. "Former Konoha ANBU and jounin missing-nin. Uchiha Shisui, S-rank criminal. Age 19. Known as Shunshin no Shisui."

"Hooray," Shisui muttered as he jumped lightly to the ground and leaned against a tree with his arms crossed.

"Complete mastery of seal-less Shunshin technique, mastery of Sharingan at a young age and possesses many unknown ocular jutsu. Specializes in ninjutsu and heavy combat. Wanted for desertion. Below jounin rank flee-on-sight order." A few more pages turned in the teen's slender hands. "Former Konoha ANBU missing nin. Uchiha I-Itachi, S-rank criminal. Age 13. Known as Yuyami no Itachi-hmm...that's new. Never heard of it. Child prodigy of Uchiha Clan, mastery of Sharingan at a young age. Specializes in ninjutsu and genjutsu. Wanted for desertion. Below jounin rank flee-on-sight order."

"That bastard," grumbled Kakashi. "Danzo rushed our entries into the bingo book and downplayed our abilities. Somewhat. He wants us to take out ninja from other countries that come after us for him. Who else is new?"

"Hn. Former Konoha jounin/ANBU missing-nin. The other countries will be wondering about the sudden desertion of four of Konoha's elites," mused Itachi. "Uzuki Yuugao, A-rank criminal."

"Huh, Tiger made it out after all," Kakashi added lightly.

"Age 17. No known monikers. Skilled swordsman. Specializes in kenjutsu. Wanted for desertion."

"That all for Konoha missing-nin? What about Kiri?"

"Hn. One of the seven swordsmen, ANBU rank missing nin. Momoichi Zabuza, A-rank criminal. Age 21. Known as the Demon of the Hidden Mist. Known for slaughtering his entire Academy class during the tests. Master of the Silent Assassination techniques. Wields the Executioner's Blade, Kubikiribōchō. Water Affinity. Kenjutsu master. Specializes in water ninjutsu, assassination, and kenjutsu. Wanted for attempted coup and assassination of the Mizukage...just a day ago. Do not engage orders. Last seen running across the sea border with Hi no Kuni."

"Ah. There's someone we could use," mused the scarecrow, drawing the stares of the other two. "What? I know how he works. I've heard about him in the war. He wouldn't do something like this just for kicks...he was a close friend of the Fourth Mizukage, I've heard."

There was a moment of awkward silence while the two Uchiha tried to read Kakashi and his motives.

Shisui snorted in disbelief and threw up his hands. "All right. Whatever. Let's go find the bloody demon of the bloody mist. What the hell can possibly go wrong?"

"Raven, you can take point. Panther, rear scout from the shadows. Raven and I will travel together in the direction of where Momoichi was last spotted. Agreed?" muttered the first masked figure, dressed in the Konoha ANBU uniform and cloak.

"Sure, Sempai," spoke the second, cloaked, silhouette. A blank white mask similar to the ANBU regulation mask covered his face.

"Hai, Wolf-taichou." The last of the trio was clothed similarly to the first, except with a raven mask to the first's wolf mask.

"Damnit, Raven," the first sighed. "I told you not to call me that. Where did you get that blank mask, Panther?" he wondered to the second, unarmored ninja. "Is it a spare of Raven's from ANBU or something?"

"...it's a ROOT mask," the second replied. "Grabbed it off one of Danzo's lackeys. Heh. Bet the Yamanaka will be thrilled that one of theirs was taken out by a single punch. Let alone that one of their kids is under that usurper's thumb."

A subtle spike of KI came from codename Raven, somewhat startling the first two.

"Itachi. You are actually capable of losing control of your killing intent?" the blank-masked Panther mock gasped, somewhat irritating the youngest.

"Alright, we're going in silence from now on," declared the most senior of the three. "Or Panther is, at least. Panther, no names. Raven, please think happy thoughts. Okay? Okay. Disperse!"

Itachi and Kakashi took off running through the woods parallel to the path towards the Mist, Shisui staying back and keeping an wary eye out for pursuers or ambushes.

"Taichou?" asked the raven-masked teen.

"Hmm?"

"...do you actually know where Momoichi is?"

"Nope!"

Itachi nearly missed a step at the former ANBU captain's cheerful tone. "Do you have a plan to find him with?"

"Hmm...nope!"

"Why don't you use your ninken hounds?"

Kakashi paused mid-leap over a log and landed skidding. "My, Raven-chan, what a good idea!" he chirped, and bit his thumb. "Summoning..." he muttered, flashing through the hand signs.

Itachi sweatdropped as the silver-haired shinobi slammed his hand on the ground and was surrounded by smoke and dogs. _Why do I have a feeling he was testing me?I'm former ANBU! _

"All right! All of you take off your Konoha headbands and give them to me," the dog summoner told the eight hounds. "This is an unsanctioned mission, so to speak."

One of the hounds, the gray Guruko, yipped a question.

"Never you mind my uniform," Kakashi grumbled. "We're looking for Momoichi Zabuza-"

He was cut off by a quiet but furious outburst from his summons. "Shh! No, I don't have his scent. Pakkun, I'll give you his profile to look over. He's...about my age...and should be surrounded by the scent of blood, since his cleaver drinks it...sort of... yes, the Uchiha in the trees is with us. No, Bull, this isn't track-and-assault, tracking only. You can dispel once we locate him."

The largest dog grunted as Kakashi tossed the smallest, Pakkun, a copy of the bingo book, conveniently flipped to Zabuza's profile. The dogs crowded around the book, yipping and growling.

"Pakkun, you stay with me, Guruko with Raven-san, in case we are separated," Kakashi directed. The two hounds nodded. "Akino, you will join Panther-san in the tree over there."

"Fine, fine," muttered the tan, short-haired dog, loping into the shadows.

"Shiba, Bisuke, Uhei, and Urushi, split up in pairs and let us know if you find him. Bull, you're between us and the other hounds to relay messages. Ready? Go!"

Four figures zipped ahead into the trees, and a burly fifth trailed slightly. Kakashi turned to Itachi with an air of satisfaction. "We'll head towards the border with Mizu no Kuni, the Water Country, and pick up his trail from there. Obviously, you know we cannot be seen by patrols as it would cause us quite a bit of trouble."

Itachi nodded cautiously, a "Hai, Taichou," instinctively slipping out as he eyed his new ninken parter Guruko.

Kakashi sprinted silently through the woods, hearing the younger tailing him closely as they ran through the increasingly misty woods, and behind them, Shisui. Beneath his Wolf mask, the silver-haired man surreptitiously shifted his headband to a level position while keeping his eye closed. The ninken-summoner's nose twitched as he inhaled, trying to catch a scent. Suddenly, he stiffened momentarily as Bull growled, relaying a message from Shiba and Bisuke.

Blood was in the air.

South of Amegakure, woodland border with Land of Fire

"Hello."

Naruto whipped around and pointed at the redhead. "Whooaa! Who are you? When did you get there?" he demanded. "I didn't heven see you! Mister genius-I'm -an-Uchiha-teme Sasuke and Hinata's super-kick-ass-nii-san Neji didn't even notice you!"

Gaara blinked. Sasuke scowled and Neji glowered. "Naruto! Don't speak for me!" snapped the Uchiha. Neji nodded in agreement.

Naruto stared at them. "Well, did you?"

"..."

"..."

"That's what I thought," the Uzumaki concluded smugly.

Gaara blinked at the other children around his sister and wisely decided to ignore what had just happened. "I am Sabaku no Gaara, Gaara of the Desert," he stated flatly.

"Oh!"interjected Sai from the fringes of the group, a rather fake smile pasted on his face. "He comes with a nickname already."

Gaara joined the six conscious children-Hanabi included-and a cat in staring at Sai blankly.

"So, um, Gaara-san, right?" Sakura broke the awkward silence. "What are you doing out here?"

The boy's black-rimmed eyes narrowed as Hinata activated her Byakugan with a burst of chakra, suspicious of treachery. His fingers twitched, as well as his sand. "...leaving Sunagakure," he answered guardedly.

"I-it's not a genjutsu," stuttered the former Hyuuga heiress, deactivating her eyes. "H-he really i-is a child."

"Um, do you know who this girl is?" asked the Haruno girl, pointing at Temari, who was still rather out of it. "We sort of found her lying here."

"She is my sister," the Shukaku jinchuuriki answered emotionlessly. "Temari. She fell during the windstorm."

"Ah!" exclaimed the resident ex-ROOT member. "So she is Temari no Arashi, since she is from the storm."

"..."

"Does he always say such things?" monotoned Gaara, turning to the oldest.

"Unfortunately so," Neji replied. "He has 'nicknamed' everyone in our group."

Our group...I am part of it? Part of a...group?

"Except me!" grumbled Naruto. "Everyone else has one, but noo, he doesn't give me one!"

"You're not special enough," joked Sasuke, playfully punching the small blonde in the arm. Naruto promptly pounced on Sasuke, and the two boys rolled off across the clearing, swinging at each other, as Sakura sighed and Hinata giggled.

"But it's true," Sai commented blankly. "There is nothing distinctive about him."

Naruto popped up, only to droop comically. "Aww..."

Hinata giggled, but patted him on the back reassuringly. "D-don't worry, N-naruto-kun, I am sure y-you will g-gain a nickname s-soon."

"But he is special," interjected Gaara suddenly. "He drives back my demon."

"...what?"

Gaara frowned at the Uchiha. "I have a demon in me that tries to eat my mind whenever I attempt to sleep," he stated calmly.

"Oookaaay..." Naruto sent Gaara a weirded-out look. "As cool as it sounds, I don't exactly want 'Naruto of the Demon Calmers' as my moniker, 'ttebayo!"

"Oh." Sai sounded disappointed. "That would have been the name I gave you."

The group sweatdropped as Naruto suddenly developed a violent twitch above his right eye.

"Hmph."

…

"You are...Neji-san." Gaara appeared at the Hyuuga's shoulder from the shrubbery he had been standing guard at.

The long-haired boy turned and frowned. "Correct."

The jinchuuriki let his eyes sweep across the group. The whisker-marked boy, Naruto, was practicing basic Taijutsu katas with the one who introduced himself as Uchiha Sasuke. The girl in the red dress and pink hair, Ha-something Sakura, was giving them tips and pointers. The strange, pale one who seemed insistent on giving everyone nicknames sat nearby, watching and drawing in the dirt with a long stick. He, too, occasionally interjected a few comments. A safe distance away, the white-eyed girls sat reading scrolls, leaning against a tree while keeping a careful eye on his sister. The younger, Hanabi, appeared to be struggling with her scroll, and often leaned over to ask the older, Hyuuga Hina-something, a question every so often.

Which left Neji, who had been meditating quietly until Gaara approached. "I sense something or someone is near," he muttered softly into the older boy's ear.

Neji frowned. "Are you certain? I cannot use the Byakugan on every whim."

Gaara glared. "Are your sisters able to use the doujutsu?"

"They can, but it would drain their chakra at an unreasonable pace," Neji replied distrustfully.

Gaara crossed his arms. "Someone is approaching."

Neji treated Gaara to a frosty, Hyuuga-trademarked stare before clasping his hands into the hand seal "Snake" and concentrating. "...Byakugan!" he muttered. His veined eyes widened. "Oh, sh-!"

A glint of metal followed by an explosion blasted outwards from the center of the clearing, cutting off Neji's most unHyuuga-like curse.

"Mrrphh!" Neji was thrown backwards by the shockwave, instinctively covering his face and upper torso with his arms. He landed on his back with a soft thud with his eyes closed and deactivated.

"You brats..." chuckled the silver-haired ninja, landing neatly in the shallow crater his exploding kunai had created. "You're from Konoha." His eyes swept the clearing, spotting the three Hyuuga, Sasuke, and finally lingering on Naruto.

"Yeah, so what if we a-Mizuki-sensei?" the blond reeled backwards. "W-w-what are you doing here?"

"Demon brat," sneered the chuunin. "What are you doing outside Konoha's protective walls? Did they kick you out, so you kidnapped all these helpless children..._Kyuubi_?"

Naruto's jaw dropped, mirrored by Neji, Hinata, Saskue, Sakura, and Hanabi. "What? Kick me...out? Kyuubi?" He turned to his friends, who were at as much of a loss as he was. "What are you talking about?"

Mizuki's face morphed into a dark, ugly scowl. "Oh, dear. The brat doesn't know. Uzumaki-" he spat, "you are the KYUUBI REBORN! The Yondaime sealed the demon into your stomach! That is why the villagers beat you, insult you, hate you! You are the bane of Konoha! You killed the Yondaime! Which is why..." he grinned nastily. "I'll be doing them a favor by KILLING YOU NOW!"

Shocked, Naruto was frozen in place, unable to move as the chuunin charged straight for him, kunai in hand.

"Bastard!" snapped Sasuke, flipping through hand signs. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu! Grand Fireball!" Mizuki barely twisted out of the way of the flames and into the jyuuken strikes of Neji and Hinata, who rushed him in tandem.

The silver-haired man jumped over their heads and promptly was impaled by one of Sakura's thrown kunai. He glared down at them, two Hyuuga in their taijutsu stances, an Uchiha boy hands already forming seals, and a pink-haired girl with a kunai in each hand. The pale boy was emotionless, but he gripped a tanto as he stared down the chuunin. The redhead stood in front of the blond protectively, a dark glower on his face, and Mizuki swore he heard sand shifting.

"You fools!" snarled Mizuki. "Why are you protecting that monster?"

"He's not a monster!" snapped Sasuke in reply. "He's our friend!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hope you like it. :D I kept revising it and revising it. Which leads me to my first point/question/plead for help.**

**-I will be looking for a beta for this story. Any recommendations? **

**-There will be other children joining their group. Any suggestions? Please keep in mind they should be around the same age as Naruto/co. Preferably not from Konoha.**

**-I will be working on a side story to stimulate my writing, of a sort. Choices are:**

**-1. Akatsuki modern-day, gang-type. Not evil.**

**-2. Akatsuki humor fic. Tobi's 12 Days of Christmas.**

**-3. Kakashi raises Naruto.**

**-4. Akatsuki teamwork fic.**

**-5. Revive/improve Divergence. (not sure)**

**Pick one? :D **

**Review please! Alfa out~  
><strong>


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